RAMBLING THOUGHTS ON A BEAUTIFUL JULY SUNDAY MORNING

[pc1971]

1. I totally understand the angst of Friar Faithful with the lack of bigtime,positive,recruiting news since winning the BE crown.Most of us were certain that at least one more stud guard would be brought in for 2014.And that was before Josh's late departure.Unfortunately,that has not happened.
2. The Roster for 2014-2015 is as follows as we sit here today.Desroisers and Chukwu as legit rim protecting 7 footers.It has been along time since PC has had that.Dunn and Cartwright appear to be the primary point guards.Junior is another guard.Bentil and Bullock will man forward slots.Henton,Lindsey ,Harris May swing between the front court and two slots.Wish we had a legit two man .Nevertheless,after what this staff accomplished last season with the six guys,the solving of the 2014-2015 puzzle should be easier with talented young men to choose from.I am not even including the walk ons and Bancroft (which may be unfair to Teddy) in this mix.
3.PC will be as strong up front as they have been in awhile.I am hearing good things about Bullock and Bentil.
4.Junior is not an offensive machine.He does play aggressively,is strong and a junkyard dog type.Hearing he works hard,including with Sham on ball handling.We shall see.I could be off base.But,I am from Missouri when he comes to how much he will really help.
5.Henton,Harris,Lindsey will all get some 2 man minutes.They are scores.
6.Looking at the above roster,only Dunn,Cartwright,Chukwu,Bentil,Bullock ,Lindsey ,Junior (Assuming Harris leaves after next season) will be here in the Fall of 2015.As of now,our only 2015 commit is Fazekas.Cooley may need to add another 5 or 6 guys.2015-2016 new guys are needed bigtime.PC is being mentioned with some very good players in that Class.It is too early to say who will come in.But they need quality at all positions for the Fall of 2015.
7.The elephant in the room is all of the NCAA Big Football stuff that is going on.How that will impact things in uncertain.But,it could get ugly.You can be sure that the ACC ,SEC,etc.schools are playing that up on the recruiting trail.


Happy Summer Friar fans.

[oaklawnbob]

#7-everything that I have read indicates that the P5 will not have any bearing on the basketball schools. It's all about football with them and the money that sport brings into their coffers. We just have to keep up with them in terms of facilities which is being addressed. The other area is recruiting. Some schools just have huge recruiting budgets for basketball recruiting that we will never have. While the budget has increased, it will never match a school like Texsas, but this staff has had great recruiting classes come in with the budget they have.

[pc1971]

Hope you are right Bob.

But those schools
will have so much more money and there is nothing to say they will not separate themselves even further over time.

This should not be casually ignored as a potentially big factor down the road.

[craigl79]

1. we are now paying the price for the Brandon Austin situation. If he was not on the roster last fall I guarantee you they would have brought in a real quality 2G in November. At that time it was not a priority and would have been difficult bringing in someone in back of Austin. Spring signees have always been a crapshoot for a program like PC. Mason was the one that really could of helped but I always worry about chemistry issues bringing in a one year player.

3. This is why it may be difficult bringing in players next year (except at the SG). That is a lot of talent on the roster that will be ahead of 2015 recruits.

6. In this day and age of one and dones, two and dones, and players transferring at the drop of a hat that is a respectable amount of talent returning for the Friars. You do see how Austin and Fortune fouled up not only this years plans, but next year as well.

7. I can't worry what we have no control over. Team needs to still go out there and win, baby win. Another NCAA tournament raises the level of the program even more.

[oaklawnbob]

Craig-do you think Mason is a one and done?
We are going to need a center next year to replace CD. There doesn't seem to be much recruiting of centers for 15'.

[thewalk]

Mason had one year left.....and Austin said he was a one and doner also...

[wtm97]

Austin said he was a one and doner also..

.

He was more like a "2" and doner and never played a minute.

*

Harris at the 2 is shaky even if he plans on that for a shot at the next level - he doesn't pass the ball and he seems like an easy pick if he tries to dribble laterally. Henton seems a better fit...

WE have many ?'s heading into this season but IMO, we also will have some answers - and maybe Junior will be one of them. Obviously Dunn is key but lots of unknowns to be found out along the way.

[oaklawnbob]

Sorry-I was thinking about Graham-too many names to remember at times at my advanced age.

[friarbrown]

It is going to be a real interesting season. After what we endured last year and accomplished with only 6 guys I am really excited to see what Cooley will do with an almost complete roster. Not having Cotton will kill us but the added depth alone should make up for some of his production. From the outside this appears to be a team that likes each other with good chemistry so we should be ok. My only concern is the '15 recruiting class. It seems like we have gone cold in that area. Hopefully things will heat up soon like they did last year when it seemed like we got a new recruit once a month after Lindsey committed.

[thewalk]

Austin said one and out.......

[friar82]

...and then he was 1/2 and out, without ever playing a regular season game at PC

[pc1971]

Jul 13, 2014 14:42:33 GMT -5 friarbrown said:

It is going to be a real interesting season. After what we endured last year and accomplished with only 6 guys I am really excited to see what Cooley will do with an almost complete roster. Not having Cotton will kill us but the added depth alone should make up for some of his production. From the outside this appears to be a team that likes each other with good chemistry so we should be ok. My only concern is the '15 recruiting class. It seems like we have gone cold in that area. Hopefully things will heat up soon like they did last year when it seemed like we got a new recruit once a month after Lindsey committed.

I agree brown.

I have a feeling,health permitting,2014-2015 will be a good season.Yes,a Cotton and Batts will be missed.But,Cooley should be able to look down the bench and have more quality answers than he has had since at PC.
But,the roster needs additions to replenish in 2015-2016.It is early.But over the next three months quality additions need to commit to the Friars to keep things going.Until proven otherwise,I will not bet against Ed.But,it is a more important recruiting class than had been thought a year ago when we thought Austin and Fortune would be around.

[friarbrown]

I agree as well 1971 about Fortune and Austin leaving really hurts. We could have probably landed another guard or two already if we would've known what we know now. Hopefully with Ed's charisma, Team USA experience and a summer of following guys we should have a decent class. I'm just praying like hell that we get Spider.

[pc1971]

Mitchell going elsewhere would hurt bigtime.

Hopefully,Cooley and Company having made very clear to the young man and his family that he is a ,if not the, top priority recruit will pay dividends.It did with Kris Dunn and Mr. Lindsey.

[oaklawnbob]

He seems pretty enamored with the UL offer. I hope he understands he is not their top priority.